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NYC Date Idea: Fire Escape Drinks

Alex and I are always lamenting the fact that we don't have a garden or balcony or any outdoor space. Once Toby goes to bed, we're pretty much stuck inside for the night. But then! We had a lightbulb moment...We could hang out on our fire escape. So we've started a little ritual of climbing out there on random warm evenings, and last night, we decided to snap some photos. First, we dress up to make it feel more like a real date. (I usually wear jeans and a T-shirt at home...or, let's be honest...pajamas:)Then we climb out our bedroom window. (Whoot, whoot! Nice legs!)We sip and chat, three stories up. We can hear the street noise (cars honking), the trees (leaves rustling), and a restaurant garden nearby (people murmuring, glasses clinking)...Do you ever drink rose? Sometimes it gets a bad rap, but it's the perfect refreshing drink for a warm evening. And I love the bright pink hue; it just feels like summer. (Side note: You can spot the restaurant garden below us, to the left of Alex.)Our fire escape looks across a courtyard onto another apartment building, just like Rear Window.We love our little outdoor drinks, and I'm glad, after six years of living here, that we finally thought of it!

Do you have a fire escape? Or a balcony? Or (gasp) an actual garden? Be still my heart.

We have a terrace with our rental apartment: it's huge, with grey concrete tiles and it's overlooked by a lot of other apartments. But, we've bought an olive tree, fuchsia's, bamboo plants and a lot of other plants and now we sit there all the time on our relaxing lounge sofa! It's great!

That is such a sweet idea and your polks dot skirt looks totally adorable on you, Joanna. Btw: Balazs and I have a balcony so during summertime we pretty much spend our evenings hanging around there, drinking wine and chatting away. xo

My boyfriend just moved here from Brooklyn and never had a balcony or garden. Now we are living in Indiana and we have a big back patio, front porch, yard and garden for less than what he paid for his room in in BK. He's a pretty happy a camper these days! :) Sitting outside for drinks is my favorite thing about summer!I love your fire escape dates!

in my midtown toronto apartment, fire escape drinks and dates are a common occurrence in the summertime. my guy and i like to make sangria and sip it out back. if im feeling romantic, i will bring out some tealight candles or sparklers for special occasions :)

I love it! My husband and I used to do that when we had a fire escape in St. Louis. It was the best place to open a bottle of rosé and watch those amazing midwestern storms blow in! We haven't had a fire escape since moving to Europe and we miss it. Fire escape dates are wonderful!

My husband and I have been feeling very blah after having our first baby 7 months ago (relationship wise), so we decided to finally spruce up our hot tub in our backyard and get it in working order. We hung white twinkle lights around the gazebo that the hot tub sits in and for the past 4 nights, after the baby is in bed, we go out to our little backyard oasis with, you guessed it, a bottle of rose! :)

We used to do that when we lived in NYC! We had a tiny apartment on West 107th and Broadway, but it will always be dear to my heart because of our fire escape memories -- picnics, big mason jars of Pimm's cup, and our sweet elderly Cuban neighbors engaged lively conversation downstairs. Good stuff.

I think it's very NYC of you :) I always picture New Yorkers spending time on their fire escapes. We have a balcony and I try to spend as much time out there as possible container gardening, reading, dining and drinking :)

Very inventive!I live on a 10 acre horse farm, and my boyfriend's house has just shy of a half-acre, so no fire escape dates for us. We do enjoy dining outside...it really is the best! Glad you guys found a way to get out, too!

That is hilarious...so innovative! We do love our front yard and rooftop deck but something about a fire escape makes it feel like you are breaking the rules. Reminds me of when my boyfriend in high school would sneak in my bedroom window by climbing up the garage roof on a ladder. My parents can't believe it now as they never heard me. LOL.Enjoy your secret dates.xoE

SO SO SO cute! I just wrote about this on my blog, how now that it's warm my husband and I put the kids to bed, freshen up a bit and then spend the evening on the patio having a cocktail or reading. It's so relaxing!

I live in queens and once saw a girl sitting on her fire-escape reading. And then I hear the couple in the apartment below us sitting on their fire-escape chatting at night. This is the final push I needed to have some wine w/ my hubby on ours! thanks :)

Fire escapes make me think of Breakfast at Tiffany's. I love that you have a Rear Window-esque apartment view.. its so very New York :) You two look like a couple of kids sneeking out to drink and its so romantic :)

So cute! And although I totally cracked up at RuBee's description of Rose wines (love the word naff), I think it can be really great! Have you had sparkling rose? Now that's yummy.

I'm in DC and my must-have was a place with outside space. I've got a little backyard that's half parking spot, half yard, but it's so nice to be able to have a small table and chairs and potted plants and twinkly lights!

Such a cute idea! I am also yearning for outdoor space. Random question: do you feel safe with a fire escape? I have always thought it must be very easy for burglars to get into flats with those stairs! Am I just being paranoid?

Oh this is just perfection! I actually live in a converted attic so my front "porch" is actually the roof of my landlord's garage. it's great though because it's this big flat space (the size of their whole garage!) that I can sprawl out on whether it's laying out to tan or having a picnic!

That is so terribly cute and so very NYC. I imagine you telling an adult Toby the story of how you snuck out for dates while he was asleep :) I've always been a utilizer of stoops during my years of city-living. Now in the mountains I'm always out on the deck! Luxury!

Ha, I love this! Very inventive. And I love how you dress up to make it more special. I dream of one day having an actual backyard, but in the meantime my husband, baby and I live in a small condo with a balcony in Chicago. You've inspired me to designate a 'date night' on our balcony when our little guy goes to bed. Great idea!

We do have a large yard (a major work-in-progress though!), and we love spending evenings out our patio, sipping margaritas, and watching our garden grow. It makes me feel happy and less wistful for what I may be missing by not leading a big-city life. That said, I LOVE your creative outdoor "date spot." Just so sweet. :)

Your skirt is stunning, and beautiful with the simple white tshirt! I'm lucky and have a garden, but because I live a little way outside the centre of London, I take it for granted as nearly everyone has one. It must be so different if you're in the middle of a city!

Waahh! I love it! I live in San Francisco. We don't have a balcony, but we do live right on Dolores Park. On nice evenings, we go to the top of the park on our favorite bench and share a drink while overlooking the city. I love those spontaneous eve's.

I love your green phone case. I'm apparently color-blind because I thought my phone case was that color when I bought it - but when I got home it was yellow. Hmmm... it's growing on me, but I still like yours better. :)

that looks so fun! i love your outfit. i am currently between apartments (about to move and living with a friend right now.) my sweetie and i lived in a little studio with no balcony, but we lived right next to a great park with lots of trails and fields and a lake. we liked to go walk through there, name and feed the ducks, and sometimes picnic. : )

Yes! In London I have a very New York-esque fire escape on one side that leads down t o our communal garden/barbeque area and a balcony on the other that overlooks the local skate park. The balcony garden is well underway and we're always hanging out with our neighbours on the fire escape. Just lush

Oh my roommate and I used to hang out on our fire escape and drink and watch people go by in Astoria. Now I have a backyard with a porch and hammock.. more maintenance but worth it to me! You guys look so cute.

Love this! and rose. I also live in a teeny one bedroom apartment (in St. Louis) and have no outdoor space. We spend a lot more time at parks as a result of it, but we're thinking of moving to a different neighborhood where balconies are standard (it's old and french). I wish we had a fire escape though! Love your skirt too - if I wasn't on a fiancé imposed "shopping ban" it would be mine!

You two are the cutest. I love that you not only go out on your fire escape, but you get dressed up to do so as well!

I have a patio at my condo. I love being outside and while I sit out there often (I post pictures doing so on my blog often!), my hubby and I don't go out there together enough. I think you have inspired me to eat dinner outside tonight!

My husband and I have a house in a suburb of Milwaukee, WI with a GORGEOUS backyard (the backyard is the reason we bought this house in the first place) and we spend every gorgeous summer night drinking beer on our patio, looking at all the plants I have managed to kill. :)

I am very fortunate to live in a building with a courtyard. I have a ground floor townhouse with a terrace. I grow boxwoods and, in the summer, geraniums, basil and japanese indigo. It's quite social and neighbours are always milling close by. I live in a ridiculously safe city though!

so sweet, i remember those nyc nights :)i now have a porch that i just adore, it's the best for a glass of wine at the end of a day. here are some photos of it:http://sageisland.blogspot.com/2011/11/photographs-from-porch.html

I love this post! It's so romantic and fun to sit out on a fire escape. Every time I've had one, I never taken advantage. Now I have a tiny SF backyard that is basically just wooden stairs and an alley, and I've still only sat out there once or twice!

That's such a good idea to get dressed up for it. I'm a victim to comfy pajamas and need to nix that habit for the bf. We moved into our apartment 6 months ago and are just starting to enjoy our amazing patio. Just this past weekend I took a luscious glass of rose out there and absolutely enjoyed it! You can check out the picture from our patio here : http://pic.twitter.com/XH8lNCQa

Thanks for the great idea for evening summer nights!-Michellewww.m-liveloudly.blogspot.com

Very fun!! We have a garden but we're in Columbus, Ohio so we don't have the cool NYC. My friends and I had margaritas and I lit the tiki torches after Cougar Town yesterday. The restaurants you have are making me drool right now. And Madonna in September...I hope to get there for that concert!

I love this "date night" idea. And your outfit is so cute! My husband and I have a back deck surrounded by crepe myrtle trees. It's amazingly private in the spring and summer when the trees have blossomed. My summertime goal is to add potted plants, flowers and herbs to give it more life. Right now, it's kind of "rustic." ;)

This is the stuff we New Zealanders only get to see in movies! Such a cute date.

As many New Zealanders do, we have a garden with sandpit and treehouse for the girls out back, and at the front my aviary of budgies and quails and also the classic kiwi playtoy, a tyre swing (literally a car tyre refashioned) suspended on a rope from an oak tree limb above.

I have got 6 acres of grass and gardened goodness now, BUT when I lived in Brooklyn Heights my husband and I used to do this a lot. I also went out on it to read by myself a lot. Felt like a private treehouse!

I love that you two have found your own space like that. When I lived in Leipzig (Germany), some of the students who lived in the same apartment building would climb out onto the framework that was put up while the building's exterior was being remodeled. I thought that was a great idea, but sadly, my side of the building wasn't being remodeled.

aww too cute! We have a yard, and this is the first summer we will really be taking advantage of it for relaxing. In the past, we just did the yard work and that was it. Now that we have kids, and one is old enough to want to go out and play, we got a wading pool, two lawn chairs for us, and are trying to make it look nice haha. I want to get a grill once I find a sale. The yard is partly torn up, we are trying to put in a driveway, but once that is done, I have plans for some flower beds and a veggie garden :)

my old roommate and i used to hang out on our fire escape in the summer... its lovely.

speaking of cute dates... thank you so much for posting your SailBoat date... i sent the post to my boyfriend as a hint (not very subtle)because i had been dying to try it.. plus i love all things preppy and nautical... he booked a day sail last weekend (when it was 75 degrees and sunny!) along with an amazing brunch at NorthEnd grill. Hes always planning amazing things for me but it definitely helps to give him some inspirations sometimes. THANKS AGAIN!!!

love this idea! it actually looks like you guys had a night out and i love that you can hear the sounds of the city and nearby restaurant. my husband and i feel a bit cooped up when our daughter goes to bed too. you've inspired me to clean up our balcony a bit and put it into use!

As much as I love and miss NY (I grew up in Manhattan), this is one of the many reasons why I'm glad I made the move to DC! My fiance and I live in a good sized apartment right in the thick of things but we still have our own private rooftop garden space. Perfect for cold drinks on hot summer nights... or ok, that's most nights in DC for about a 9 month stretch.

Funny thing, we have a huge garden (and happy hour in the garden is a favourite pastime), but I am so jealous of your fire escape perch! It looks just awesome and so very NYC! Here's our patch, if you are curious...

I can't believe you didn't think of it before! Very romantic. We're lucky to have a garden complete a nest of blackbirds chirping. We have to keep vigil lately to stop the neighbour's cat from pouncing for the kill. A perfect excuse to sit out with a glass of wine in the evening sun!

We have a huge deck and yard, but because we live in the Pacific Northwest the weather doesn't let us use it very often, or at least not very enjoyably. We're hoping to add a roof to one portion so we can snuggle out there no matter the weather :)

Thanks for the reminder to use it though! Your fire escape dates look so fun :)

over the 2+ years we have been at our current rental house, we have put in a big ol' garden (with our landladies' blessings!) for growing food and all kinds of flowers. Plus, our back yard is flanked on two sides by tall stands of fir and hemlock, so it basically feels like we live in the woods; I love watching the last of each day's sunlight catching in the treetops.

Love it! We did this the other night after out baby went to sleep, in our front yard, where we have a glider bench. We had gin and tonics. Next time I will consider dressing up... or even getting dressed! I was in my jammies:)

And yes, the apartment I live in has a nice front porch with tables and chairs, it's far back from the road, and we're surrounded by bushes and trees and flowers, so even though the neighborhood is not very private or quiet, I feel like I'm in my own haven when I sit out there. One of my favorite things to do is to sit out there and read.

This is so darling! I hope one day to have sweet quirky traditions such as this. I live in California where there is a lot of room so most everyone has a place to step outside. It's something I should take more advantage of -- or appreciate more. I must say though, this post totally warmed my heart.

Oh fire escape drinks... they have a special place in my heart. When I first moved to the city in 2003, my boyfriend at the time lived in a loft with huge fire escapes that overlooked the Tribeca Grand Hotel. They had special oversized pillows that lived out there and it was one of our favorite places to sit and people watch. Memories!

We have a big front yard... and a back yard with a patio, table to seat 12 and bbq. but... maintaining it takes a lot of time. sometimes i long to live in an apartment! but this is australia, and you have to have a house in the suburbs with a backyard, right? plus, then we couldn't have our adorably gorgeous golden retriver :)

So cute! We have a front yard. It's small and on a main street. We have a table and chair for it but we keep it in the shed and have yet to bring it out and use it this spring / summer. We really should take advantage of it more!

seriously you're adorable! we don't have any green space either since we live downtown also. And our small balcony looks onto a construction site where a new tower is coming in. So we don't get to go outside for dates much.

but this reminds me of my old apt with my university roommate...we used our fire escape the exact same way and it was lovely.

I have to give you mad props for mentioning Rear Window. When I was living in the West Village, I would look out my back window and always think about that movie...(And oh, to have Grace Kelly's wardrope!)

Very neat date night idea, we used to sit on our roof in the city when the kids went to bed...you could get to it through our daughter's bedroom window. Now we have more than enough fields to walk through ..it's heavenly. although not a restaurant for miles

Love this post! I can definitely relate. When I lived on the UES, I had a fire escape and a stoop. I often perched on the fire escape with a cup of coffee and watched people pass below. Now I have a balcony, but I almost prefer the fire escape. I felt closer to the ground and to the people. Thanks for writing on this uniquely New York topic :)

Two weeks ago my husband and I had the same lightbulb moment. I am such a front porch/patio girl, so it's been killing me that our current 100 year old apartment has nothing of the sort.... but we do have a fire escape! So far we've done sunny morning coffee dates out there. I like the date night idea. We'll have to try that :)

This summer we drank a lot of Rose , a great wine for very hot climates. We went Spanish and added lots of ice.A few years ago my daughter was in New York for University and had a great apartment in the West Village where she sat out on the fire escape with her dinner and a glass of wine. A great New York moment. Shelley Perth Western Australia

When I lived in San Francisco we hung out on out roof a lot. We did have a fire escape and on Halloween we would dress it up and yell at all the kids to come over and we would lower down candy from our 2nd floor apartment. All the kids loved it! But to be honest I think we enjoyed it the most. :)

ohhh sweet. We have a balcony a garden and a terrace.. it's great. I would die without it. So we eat and drink coffee and everything outside...and evenings are pure magic...even in December we sit out bundled up in blankets ;)

We have a big apartment and a balcony, but there's something about it (facing the main street, having no privacy at all) that makes us just want to use it when we need to water the plants. We have been using the fire escape stairs for the past 2 years - they face several internal patios that belong only to the ground floor and all other buildings in our quarter. We use it to sip a martini before dinner or to smoke a cigarette after it - the funny thing is, around 11pm, there are lots of other couples doing exactly the same thing - it must be when the house quiets down. We know it, only because we see the odd orange tip lighting somewhere in the neighborhood :))

This is such an adorable idea. We have an old queen anne victorian cottage in LA with a nice big backyard and even a sunroom and yet, we don't go outside for some one on one time nearly enough. I'm also the biggest advocate of rose. I'm pregnant right now, so this means I'll have to wait until next summer to indulge in my summertime rose :)

Lovely pictures, Joanna! My husband and I are blessed with a rooftop deck that still makes us swoon on warm summer nights. This past weekend we put our planters out, so it now has a few bright flowers, a mini potted herb garden, and room enough for two chaise lounges and a small cocktail table. One of our favorite things to do is head up there after our daughter goes to bed--which is why your post resonated so much! We take in the sunset and sip wine. We also take time to recognize how lucky we are to have this space and our family...that tiny moment of gratitude reminds us to enjoy everything in life we are blessed with.

Love It! I used to live in a 6th floor walk up in the East Village and we used to call the fire escape "the lanai". Perfect for sipping Rose, looking at the Empire State Building, and watching the naked vaccumer five floors up across the street (!). It was definitely the most romantic place in the apartment. Now we are over-the-moon lucky enough to have a whole garden in Brooklyn, but, alas no naked vacuum lady (who knew I'd miss her?!). Thank you for bringing back those memories!

hahaha this is so clever and relaxing. We have a patio, but sometimes, we just want to see people, so we go outside with our wine glasses and sit on the steps. (we live on walk "down" instead of a walk up.

We do the same! It's such a thrill, and you pictures made me laugh because that's pretty much exactly how I look trying to climb myself in and out. Turn on some music inside the apartment and bring a couple candles!

It's a really cute idea, but if I were your neighbor I might not like you if you had these dates too late. Sound travels in New York and I hate the teenagers who hang out on the steps all night. I'd certainly have an issue with a next door neighbor having a date right next to my bedroom window.

Oh my gosh! That's so funny. How cute, and kind of sneaky feeling! Do you ever feel like 2 wayward teenagers sneaking out at night? To drink your parents' booze? :P I love that. I love our deck, but I would never think to appreciate it the way you do your outdoor escapades.

That's great ! Here in Paris, we have a sort of fire escape (called "escalier de service" in French), but it's a little larger than yours and we managed to put a little table and 2 chairs and flowers and it's perfect in summer.

i love that, but please be super careful! fire escapes are old and aren't really meant to be hang out spots, even though they are just begging for it in new york city! i know of a girl from nyu who was out on a fire escape with too many people and the landing gave under the weight and she is in a wheelchair for life. i don't mean to be alarmist but it's scary stuff! make sure your fire escape is up to code and safe before you try this, new yorkers!

To me, a fire escape is *magical*. We don't have any outdoor space. None at all. Somebody sold our back garden decades ago and it was turned into a cinema - which has its good points, but not if you want to hang out in it and talk.

I'm a bit late to this post, but I have to say I sit on my fire escape almost every day. In other apartments (with cooler landlords) I've also had whole farms on them. I wonder all the time why more people don't do it. It's the perfect place for coffee in the morning, drinks at night or the best thing is to invest in a few cushions from IKEA and get yourself set up with a little reading nook for some sunday afternoon relaxing....

I love this...it brings back so many great, crazy memories. The day I moved in to my first apartment in NY, my dad bought me a little Smokey Joe Weber grill for my fire escape. My now-husband had one too and would sit in his favorite leather chair and grill through the window.

In our last apartment in the city, we climbed over the bed to get to the fire escape. Bourbon for him and wine for me in hand, with a plate of steaks to cook! I love your idea of dressing up too!

I have to say, I love my deck now but I know the fire escape adventures make me appreciate our backyard so much more!

What a great idea! I love going out on my fire escape and taking photos. My boyfriend is afraid to sit out there with me. He didn't even want to put plants out on ours, he thinks it'll fall down. We have such a fantastic view of Central Park, it would make a lovely place to have an afternoon cocktail!